Pysanka

What to do before Easter?

Monday March 23rd & 30th

6 P.M. – 8:30 P.M.

Two Evening Workshop $60.00

 

All materials are provided to make exceptionally original Pysanka for your Easter celebration.  Gather a group of friends and reserve your spaces today with Pay Pal by clicking on the BUY NOW button above. 

 

Pysanka (Ukrainian: писанка, plural: pysanky) is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, “to write”, as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. The word pysanka refers specifically to an egg decorated with traditional Ukrainian folk designs, and is not a generic term for any egg decorated using wax resist.

Many other eastern European ethnic groups decorate eggs using wax resist for Easter. These include the Belarusians (пісанка, pisanka), Bulgarians (писано яйце, pisano yaytse), Croats (pisanica),Czechs (kraslice), Hungarians (hímestojás), Lithuanians (margutis), Poles (pisanka), Romanians (ouă vopsite, incondeiate or impistrite), Serbs (pisanica), Slovaks (kraslica), Slovenes (pisanica, pirhi orremenke) and Sorbs (jejka pisać).

Here’s something to try next year. From stage one with the preliminary wax drawing on the egg, to the finished product. Voila, this year I made 4 dozen!

Process:

Step 1) Using bee’s wax, stylus, and flame to heat the stylus, I draw better on eggs then a piece of paper.

Step 2-5) Dye, followed by  second, third, and fourth layers of wax fill.

Adding several layers of dye and wax darkens the overall appearance of the design, making final stage more exciting.

Your thinking this is one ugly egg right?

Step 6) After covering all areas of color in wax, the eggs get their final color- usually black or a darker color dye to conceal the prior colors.

Step 7) Dry last layer of dye completely. Place carefully in a warm oven approx 300. The wax will warm, melt, and wipe off with soft cloth to reveal the vibrant layers beneath. It’s alway a little bit of magic and a great surprise!